The head-turning caveman house has a new owner

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The home known as the Flintstone House, as seen from Interstate 280, is going on the market next week for an asking price of $4.2 million, in Hillsborough, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. The three bedroom and two bathroom home was designed by architect William Nicholson and built in 1976 as an experiment in new building materials, in the form of a series of domes. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

The home known as the Flintstone House, sits nestled in the trees in Hillsborough, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. The house is going on the market next week for an asking price of $4.2 million. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

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A window inside the home known as the Flintstone House, which can be seen from Interstate 280, is photographed in Hillsborough, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. The house is going on the market next week for an asking price of $4.2 million. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

The home known as the Flintstone House, which can be seen from Interstate 280, is going on the market next week for an asking price of $4.2 million, in Hillsborough, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

Skylights provide plenty of natural light in the Flintstone House, which will be soon listed for $4.2 million. It was photographed in Hillsborough, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

Multi-colored pillows decorate the conversation pit in the home known as the Flintstone House, in Hillsborough, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

One of the doors in the Flintstone House was designed by Burning Man artist Dan Das Mann. The home was photographed in Hillsborough, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

A niche is decorated in the kitchen of the Flintstone House, in Hillsborough, Calif., photographed on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

The Flintstone House was designed by architect William Nicholson and built in 1976 as an experiment in new building materials, in the form of a series of domes. It was photographed in Hillsborough, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

A kitchen window highlights a cutout screen made of wood and painted to look like metal in the Flintstone House in Hillsborough, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

The home known as the Flintstone House, which can be seen from Interstate 280, is going on the market next week for an asking price of $4.2 million, in Hillsborough, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. (John Green/Bay Area News Group)

The sale has been a long time in the making, perhaps because such a home design is a, well, acquired taste. The property at 45 Berryessa first went on the market in September 2015 for $4.2 million. That price was slashed to $3.78 million in February 2016 and cut again in July 2016 to $3.2 million.

The asking price, as well as the precise reason why someone would actually want to own such a quirky looking house, has not been made public. Zillow, which estimates the home to be worth around $3.1 million, says this about the Flintstone property:

“This Hillsborough iconic landmark, seen from highway 280, is on the market for the first time in 20 years. In 1976 Bay Area architect William Nicholson designed the multiple domed home that is nestled into the hillside overlooking Crystal Springs Reservoir. Architect, Eugene Tsui, designed the “biologic” kitchen. Interesting rooms include a game room, the conversation pit, and the 3rd bedroom with a loft. This is an amazing opportunity for buyers who appreciate the architecture and design.”

Along with the bragging rights that come with living in one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s most famous and photographer houses the new owners will enjoy three bedrooms and two baths spread over 2,730 square feet. Along with marveling at the architectural craftwork of William Nicholson, who built the home in 1976 while experimenting with unusual building materials and construction techniques, the owners will be able to boast about the concrete that contractors sprayed onto wire mesh frames and the weird inflated-balloon feel of the abode.

One bit of advice to the whoever is moving in: Smile when you look out at 280, because you’re definitely being watched.

Patrick May is an award-winning writer for the Bay Area News Group working with the business desk as a general assignment reporter. Over his 34 years in daily newspapers, he has traveled overseas and around the nation, covering wars and natural disasters, writing both breaking news stories and human-interest features. He has won numerous national and regional writing awards during his years as a reporter, 17 of them spent at the Miami Herald.

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